“From climate change to nuclear war, engineered pandemics, uncontrolled artificial intelligence, and other destructive technologies not yet foreseen, a worrying number of risks conspire to threaten the end of humanity,” the philosopher William MacAskill writes in a new essay. As societies face “potential oblivion,” what steps must governments take to ensure humanity has a future—and to make it a future worth having?
Meeting the challenge “will take daring and imagination,” MacAskill argues. “Enormous economic, social, and political transformations remain possible—and necessary. If we act wisely, the coming century will be defined by the recognition of what we owe the future, and our grandchildren’s grandchildren will look back at us with gratitude and pride. If we mess up, they might never see the light of day.”
Read more from Foreign Affairs on managing some of the world’s most dangerous threats:
“Why We Fail to Foresee and Contain Catastrophe” by Elke U. Weber
“The Right Way to Think About the Future” by J. Peter Scoblic and Philip E. Tetlock
“Learning From the COVID-19 Failure—Before the Next Outbreak Arrives” by Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker
“The Return of Doomsday” by Ernest J. Moniz and Sam Nunn
“Climate Change’s Dangerous Next Phase” by Michael Oppenheimer
